> The world was eagerly, and somewhat justifiably, pondering the end of San Francisco in April 1906 after the almighty 7.9 magnitude quake

Not sure it’s a fair comparison between a massive earthquake and the anti-social problems in SF today. One is a once-in-a-lifetime natural disaster with a clear path forward (rebuild and repair). The other is largely man-made, with root causes still unaddressed and with no consensus on what the right solution even is.